Arab League gives Syria 15 days to implement proposal

Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmad Ben Hali said Thursday that Syrian authorities have 15 days to implement provisions of an Arab League peace proposal before dialogue can kick off between the regime and the opposition, DPA reported.

"The Arab League proposal is still in its initial stage," Ben Hali told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television.

He added that dialogue between Syrian authorities and the opposition "will take place at the Arab League's headquarters and under its auspices."

Syria on Wednesday fully accepted an Arab League plan to end nearly eight months of bloodshed in the country, but on Thursday Syrian security forces killed 20 people and wounded 50 others in a new wave of crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.

The Arab League plan forsees a complete halt to the violence, the release of protesters who have been detained since February, the withdrawal of forces from areas where there have been armed clashes, and granting access to delegates from the 22-member body and the international media.

More than 3,000 people have been killed, among them 187 children, in the clampdown the Syrian government has been carrying out against protesters since the uprising started in mid-March, according to UN estimates.